“School choice is the civil rights issue of our generation,” said Brian Calle, Senior Fellow at the Pacific Research Institute.

Both Calle and Lance Izumi, senior director of Education Studies at the institute, spoke on Feb. 1 as Trinity Classical Academy and other Santa Clarita Valley schools joined thousands in the United States to celebrate National School Choice Week.

Both Calle and Izumi are on the forefront of the school choice movement.

National School Choice Week features special events and activities that highlight support for school choice programs and proposals.

“The choice system is for kids with every background, with every type of disability or need,” Izumi said.

He favors the voucher system, and has done many scientific studies that back up his opinion.

Under the proposed voucher system, each state taxpayer would be given a choice as to what school a portion of his tax dollars would be distributed.

“Vouchers have had a positive impact on improving the performance of students, and the schools they attend” Izumi said.

Brian Calle agreed, saying the voucher system is “simply a way of infusing competition into education.”

When schools compete for excellence, all of them improve.

National School Choice week believes that parents should be empowered to choose the best educational environments for their children, from encouraging increased access to great public schools, to public charter schools, magnet schools, virtual schools, private schools, home schooling and more.

Calle stressed “school K-12 is the only thing in life where you don’t have a choice. I can go to the restaurant I want and the dry cleaner I want, but I cannot choose a school for my child.”

Liz Caddow, Trinity’s founder and head of school, started the event with a prayer for future fellowship on school choice.

This groundbreaking event was the first of many said Wally Caddow, Trinity’s founder and managing director.

Wally Caddow opened the evening by telling the crowd that “this is an idea whose time has come, and we are happy to be on board.”

Other ideas discussed at the event were tax-credit scholarships, personal tax credits and many other initiatives that are providing more choices for parents in education.